INICIAR SESIÓNNobody moved.Rica stared at Evelyn, waiting for her to take the words back.She didn't."Say that again."Evelyn's fingers tightened around the strap of her handbag."Thomas called me yesterday.""Where is he?""I don't know.""Where is he, Evelyn?""I told you. I don't know."Rica crossed the room and caught Evelyn's wrist."Don't do this to me. Not now. Not after everything you've hidden. You said my father was alive. Where is he?"Derrick stepped toward them."Rica."She didn't look at him."She said he's alive.""I heard her.""Then ask her!"Derrick turned to his mother."Start from the beginning. What did Thomas say?"Evelyn pulled her wrist free and sat down. Her eyes moved toward the phone still displaying the security footage."He called from an unknown number. I almost didn't answer.""What time?" Derrick asked."Just after six in the evening.""Yesterday?""Yes.""What did he want?"Evelyn swallowed."He asked about the storage unit."Rica's expression sharpened."Unit 317
"You were the last person who saw him.""Yes.""And you never told me."Evelyn shook her head."I thought he had gone into hiding.""Did you know he was dead?""No."Rica stepped back.For years, she had mourned her father. She had visited a grave, spoken to a name carved in stone, and learned to live with an absence everyone told her was final.Now the woman who had helped bury the truth was sitting in front of her."Who arranged the funeral?" Rica asked.Evelyn's eyes moved toward Liam.He answered."Richard.""Who identified the body?"No one spoke.Rica looked at Derrick."Did your father ever tell you?""No.""Did your mother?""No."She turned back to Evelyn."Was there a body?"Evelyn began to cry."I don't know."Rica stared at her."You don't know?""I was told the arrangements had
Rica went still."My claim to what?""Your father's shares. The account. Everything Thomas left.""Why would he need my signature?""Because the original agreement gives you the right to challenge the transfer."Rica looked at Derrick.Liam hadn't merely been chasing her because of their past.He wanted something she owned."Tell him I won't sign.""I tried.""And?"Evelyn's voice cracked."He said if you refuse, he'll release the documents naming everyone involved."Derrick's expression turned cold."Let him.""Your father's name is in those records.""So is mine," Derrick replied. "I'm done hiding.""You're not understanding. The documents don't only implicate Richard.""Then who?"Evelyn didn't answer.Rica stepped in."Who else is named?"A sound came through the phone. Something being moved across a table.Then Evelyn w
"That's the part your mother has been hiding."Jonathan's words remained in the study after the call disconnected.Derrick was already reaching for his coat."Marcus is waiting outside. We'll go to the estate."Rica held up the envelope."Not until you tell me what you know."Jonathan glanced at her."Miss Bloom—""Rica."He nodded reluctantly."Rica, your father didn't simply leave an inheritance. He left instructions. Richard agreed to carry them out, but Adrian Vale interfered before the arrangement could be completed.""Why?""Because the account held more than money.""What else?""Shares. Property rights. Controlling interests in two companies that were eventually absorbed into Vale Holdings."Derrick's eyes narrowed."You're saying Thomas Bloom owned part of Vale Holdings?""Not directly. He held the beneficial rights through the account."Rica looked down at the document."Then my father was a shareholder?""He was more than that. He had enough control to challenge Adrian's po
Marcus didn't answer.Derrick stood."Arrange the meeting.""Should I inform Mrs. White?""Yes."He paused."Actually, I'll tell her myself."Rica was in the sitting room when Derrick returned.A cup of tea sat untouched beside her."You're back early.""I found Jonathan."She looked up."Your uncle?""He returned to the country yesterday. He agreed to meet me tonight.""Did he say why?""No. His assistant arranged everything."Rica set down her cup."Then we're going."Derrick pulled out the chair opposite her."That's what I expected you'd say.""Good. Saves us time."He placed the photograph on the table."Marcus found him in a building three days before the account was supposedly closed."Rica examined the image."That's the same ring.""Yes.""Did he collect the envelope?""We don't know. But
Derrick White stared at the document long after Rica had left the room.His signature sat at the bottom of the page.Clear. Familiar. Undeniably his.But the words above it had changed the meaning of everything he thought he knew about his father's final days.SUCCESSOR AUTHORIZATION — BENEFICIAL CONTROL TRANSFER.He picked up the paper and turned it over again.Nothing.No additional explanation. No attached schedule. No indication of what he had supposedly agreed to control.His phone lay beside the folder.Derrick dialed Marcus.The call connected almost immediately."Tell me you've found something.""I've found several things, sir. None of them are good.""Start talking.""I've been reviewing the account records you sent. Your signature appears on three documents, not one."Derrick straightened."Three?""Yes. The first is the acknowledgment from the meeting. The second authorizes you to act as a family representative if your father became unavailable. The third is the successor a







